Can someone please tell me what is involved in replacing a water pump on a 2litre pinto. I will be replacing my radiator hoses so thought while i drained the system might as well change the pump. I hope i right in thinking it runs of the fan belt so the timing wont be affected ?

Any kind of guide would be much appreciated bearing in mind i aint done this before.

Pretty straight forward , and it does run off the fan /alt belt so no timing issues there . Probly the hardest bit will be getting the viscous fan coupling off the pump .... its a left hand thread . There is a special mounting bolt at the bottom LH side of the pump , this bolt also provides a mount for the cam belt cover , and , in my experience it would rather snap off in the block than unscrew , and its a bit of an arse to get at ( or replace if you do break it ) . If your water pump is not leaking or rumbling ( bearings )and working then I would leave it there. Im thinkin your not a F1 technician and this is the sort of seemingly simple task that can turn to shit in an instant. Good luck Hamish

yes only replace if its broke mate i learnt that from this forum as it saves yourself a job and saves the hassle. thats a good guide miniman but in your 1st step you definitely need the rad out of the way otherwise you wont be able to get the fan out. and to elaborate on your 2nd step you need a special viscous fan spanner as a normal open ended 32mm spanner might not be able to get round the nut as the special viscous fan spanners have an angle on them to get to the nut. you can buy the viscous fan spanners from halfords for 12 quid. thats where i got mine they are double sided one sides 32mm and the other is 36mm. hope this helps

MiniMan wrote:Hi mate, Did this recently so will do my best to offer my advice

Sam that's a fantastic service guide you posted fella, thanks a lot for taking the time to post it here. Reading through it a few times it don't seem quite as daunting now... but I know that's only if everything goes as smoothly as it sounded like it did for you mate. Hearing the stories of "snapped" water pump bolts really worries me too but suppose I can get as far as the "removal of pump" stage if the bolts really don't wanna play ball then I def wont force it to the point of snapping it off...last famous words......

Mc Tool wrote: Im thinkin your not a F1 technician and this is the sort of seemingly simple task that can turn to shit in an instant.

Hamish, cant argue with you there about my mechanical experience mate, and you dead right about how a simple..ish job can turn bad...

This is usually a job I would have handed my capri into my mechanic to do, hence learnig jack shit on how to do it myself so I think its about bloody time I gave these sort of jobs a go myself...thus also saving me £££ but more importantly building up my confidence to take on jobs I would otherwise pass up.Last year I did renew the front brakes,( calipers, pipes, discs, pads) and was a brilliant way to actually see how they are set up.

Its only since I been on this great forum getting the help/advice I have, that I have had the confidence to do more jobs myself without the need for a more competent mechanic to help me, so thanks to all so far

dan the capri fan wrote:yes only replace if its broke mate... you need a special viscous fan spanner

Dan, thanks mate will def invest in a viscous spanner mate. Reason I was thinking of replacing the pump was I saw a bit of a very slight drip(nothing serious yet) the other day that "seemed" to be from the water pump housing where bolted to engine, but have since found another drip from one of the rad hoses. As I will be draining the system to replace both rad hoses I thought to be on safe side might as well do the pump as well as probably been on engine for quite a few years anyway...don't know what the "expected" life these pumps usually have ? I will check this "drip" again as car is up on axles at moment so can get right underneath to have a good nose around.

Thanks again for your advice chaps , I will keep you posted what I end up doing

Ok ( fess up time ), I removed and re-sealed the bottom rad hose 3 times ( even put on a new hose clip the last time ) before I actually had a proper investigation and found coolant leaking out of the hole in the bottom of the water pump , and dribbling down the hose I had to get flat on my back under the front of the car to see it . I think the smartest thing anyone can do ( repair wise ) is to know when to seek assistance, Water pumps arnt that hard...... If you are a learning home mechanic a digital camera is a real bonus. When in new territory I take vids with mine , and talk thru what Im doing so I don't get lost Push bike spanners are nice and thin ( and cheap ) and will get that poxy fan nut thing off .........didn't look left hand to me .... not for the 1st hour anyway

Mc Tool wrote: and will get that poxy fan nut thing off .........didn't look left hand to me .... not for the 1st hour anyway

That's exactly the sort of thing I would do mate...thanks for the warning

Well I ran the engine for 10mins earlier and had a good nose around to seek this water leak, which even though not too serious at the moment, is still enough to be playing british bulldog in my head

My original suspicions were unfortunately correct I now believe, cause there definitely is some water (green colour-coolant) seeping down the back of water punp where it mates with the engine block- presuming its the gasket seal perished. Shining a torch right in (very difficult to see clearly without removing the rad, viscous fan etc), I can definately see the water gather on a lip on engine block, then slowly work its way across then to form a drip over the lip where the oil sump fixing bolts are, then hitting the floor...nowhere near where you would expect it to be ! As frustrating as it is I am actually quite relieved in a way to have found the "source" of this leak.

So I was gonna drain the rad to replace my old rad hoses with new ones anyway so was half thinking to crack on and change the pump which is quite old. Now I have no choice !

Time to go shopping...again !!

Ah well am on a crap shift next week so this will have to wait till following week...

Only thing I would ad to the instructions already given is....don't bother tightening the viscous fan nut when you replace it. Just spin the fan on and leave it, it'll tighten itself enough when the engine is running. makes it easier to remove next time! And lightly copper grease all the threads on replacement, prevents the snapping problem next time.

340truck wrote:Only thing I would ad to the instructions already given is....don't bother tightening the viscous fan nut when you replace it. Just spin the fan on and leave it, it'll tighten itself enough when the engine is running. makes it easier to remove next time! And lightly copper grease all the threads on replacement, prevents the snapping problem next time.

Thank you mate. Great bit of advice there regarding the fan. Woukd never have thought of doing that at all. Very clever. Will def do as you say as well, re grease the fixings on replacement...not that i wanna be doing this all over again too soon

Attempting to replace the water pump following instructions on this thread.

Got the radiator off and i'm at the stage of removing the nut behind the fan. Got the special 32mm spanner on it and when i turn it (either way) there doesnt seem to be any friction... it just spins the fan when i turn the nut, or if i hold the fan still it just causes the fan belt to slip. Am i doing something stupid here? this is my first time attempting this job so any help would be appreciated.

Hi mate I've done it that way a fair few times with pressure on the fan belt but for stubborn ones I use an old fan belt and wrap around the pulley and twist it and hold with grips so you can hold pulley tight. you'll end up finding your own way as you go

Like I've said in a previous post, I use a long thin chisel and put it on the right edge of one of the flats of the nut then give it a good twat with a large tapping stick. Works on most models, not just Capri's.